That was the message from the first book.

In the second she asked me to rescue her. The third; well, that could hardly have been any more obvious. And the latest? That was the final piece of the puzzle.

That one said, ‘it’s fine to do this. Put aside your doubts, and do it now.’

And I have her. We have each other.

Of course, there will be a problem with her meeting people if she looks like she does now. Someone will recognize her. It’s inevitable, in the modern world. Stuff gets all over social media. The only way to stop it would be to hide her away forever, and neither of us want that.

We might be exceptional people, but we want to live a normal life together. We want the world to witness our love.

So she will have to change her appearance. I have a plan for that, though. It will be hard and painful, but she will accept it.

Great love requires great sacrifice.

She knows that.

She may protest, but that is just proof of how great the sacrifice is.

Of how great our love is.

She will see it, in the end.

2

Now, to deal with her fool of a husband. I call him.

‘Matt? It’s Guy. Any news?’

‘No.’ He sounds depressed, as he should. I’m looking forward to hearing it get worse. ‘The police lost the van. They think the kidnapper switched to a different vehicle.’

My plan worked. Useful information, and not the first useful information he has given me. The text messages immediately after the handover were vital – I had not anticipated a drone. If this idiot hadn’t told me about it, I would have stuck to the A roads to get to the van.

And they would have followed me and seen what I had done.

As it was, I took the motorway. Thanks, Matt, you useless clown.

‘Jesus. I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘What next?’

‘I don’t know. I really don’t.’

‘Can I help?’

‘I don’t think so.’ A pause, heavy with emotion. ‘Not at this point.’

‘OK. Well, I’m in the office. Don’t hesitate to let me know.’

‘I won’t.’

‘And the kids? How are they?’

‘Holding up, just. But it’s going to be a tough road. They miss their mum.’

‘I’ll bet.’

She won’t be missing them, though. That was the message of the fourth book, This Is Not the End. She told me how to do this.

A mother who didn’t want her offspring. No surprise, given they came from the man who had forced her into marriage. Yes, in the book she changes her mind, but that was for public consumption. It was not part of the message. The message was that there was no reason to leave her there, trapped in her life with this fool. She didn’t want the children. I was free to act.